Jack Campbell spent a lot of time Monday blitzing into the Lions' backfield. He shot through the offensive line for a sack on the first play of team drills and killed the first red zone drive with another sack. He was a general nuisance to the offense, with his bounding strides and closing speed. Alex Anzalone was disruptive, too.
In the secondary, Terrion Arnold had a quality day. He ended the first drive for the offense by running stride for stride with Isaac TeSlaa to shut down a deep ball. The route was likely designed for Jameson Williams, who was briefly sidelined after appearing to get hit where it hurts. Arnold got Williams all the same later in practice. With the offense facing third down in the red zone, Arnold ran with Williams across the end zone and then rose with him into the air to knock down a pass from Jared Goff. Arnold's hamstring injury is clearly behind him.
Also noticeable: Aidan Hutchinson, per usual, and Tyliek Williams. The rookie defensive tackle had a strong surge at the line of scrimmage to erase one run by David Montgomery, and later appeared to end a drive in the red zone with what looked like a fourth-down sack. On another series, Hutchinson was in hot pursuit of Goff on a rollout a few yards from the goal line, but give Goff credit for being fleet enough to get the ball out to Jahmyr Gibbs for a walk-in touchdown.
It wasn't a tackling practice, with most players in shorts. The catch of the day came from Tim Patrick, who was back in action for the first time since injuring his quad two weeks ago. On a lofted ball toward the back pylon from Hendon Hooker, Patrick -- who repped mostly with the second team -- made a slick one-handed grab through tight coverage and managed to get both feet in bounds.
"C'mon, man," he said with a smile. "Timmy Toe Tap."
It's been a generally frustrating camp for Patrick, who admitted prior to his injury that his play was "slacking a little bit." He said he was mad that all the work he put in this offseason wasn't showing up on the field -- "but it will." He looked better on Monday, though he failed to come down with another fade in the end zone toward the end of practice that he'll tell you he should have caught. His scream after the ball hit the ground said as much. That's the sort of play the Lions are looking at him to make.
"It’s my first day back, so frustration is definitely still there, but I'm just happy to be on the field, man, just to get out there and show a little something and just get healthy," he said. "That’s the most important thing."
The Lions are still counting on Patrick to play an important role on offense, even with the emergence of TeSlaa in a potentially similar role. Asked how he felt on Monday, Patrick said, "I’ll give it a C+. I think it was good enough, but this offense is based on details, I feel like I was lacking a lot of details today."
In general, it felt like another practice tilted toward the defense, which has been the theme of camp. Coordinator Kelvin Sheppard continues to be bold with his linebackers, which is no surprise for a coach who spent his first four years in Detroit coaching that room. Trevor Nowaske got home on a blitz with the second team. Protection was an issue for the offense when the defense sent extra rushers.
The starting unit did hit some plays Monday, a few of them, as always, from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who gets open anytime, anywhere. Patrick's A+ catch was the highlight of an otherwise C+ kind of day on offense.
"I think the most important thing, we’re better than we were Day 1," Patrick said. "And that’s all we can do, is get better each and every day and make sure we’re hitting on all cylinders when it comes to Green Bay."